High-speed bending roller machine



Feb. 13, 1945. ILLMER I HIGH+SPEED BENDING ROLLER MACHINE Filed Feb. 8, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I Zhwentor:

Patented F eb. 13, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HIGH S'PEED-BENDING ROLLER MACHINE a Louis Illmer, C'ortI amLN.

Application Februaryv 8, 1943; SerialNo. 475.196

The present improvements relate to a compact machine, low in first cost and primarily arranged to expedite the straightening of" a; kinked or other initially deformed reelable' metallic" strand of round or fiat profile by. reversely crimping.

such work piece through a long succession of staggered bending rollers respectively carried" Multifold' pairs" of rackbar components are herein cooperatively disposed abreast of each other in juxtaposed relation. to shorten their:

combined overall length in comparison'to an uninterrupted tandem assembly and thereby'obvi ate the need for an abnormally long floor space.

Driven guide sheave means" may carry a common strand into endwise registry with several of such rackbar groups. The attainment of the contemplated accelerated rate of'productive delivery, calls for the use of an appropriately extendednumber. of roller spansto establish a" ser penti'ne strand path of requisite length. To

minimize the resultingjrictional drag; all bending rollers are preferably equipped with ball bearings'or the like anti-friction racezmeansand: thetreated strand positivelykept out'of direct sliding engagement" with nxed'supports: identi cal apparatus may likewise be utilized" to perform strand fatigue tests thereon;

The primary object of myinvention is to devise an economical straightening" or material 1 testing machine of the indicated character in" which a plurality of conjointed'dualrollencarrying rackbars may be juxtaposed and compact ly placed along. side each other with certain rolleraxes inclined to each otherand serviced by" strand'guide sheave means whereby to promote the rate of production, reduce overall floor space requirements and otherwise improve structural aspects.

Reference is had to the accompanying" two" sheets of'drawings which ,are'descriptive' of al ternative exemplifications, and in which? Fig. 1 represents an elevational sidevi'ewof' a horizontal type of wire straightener, and Fig: 2 anend view thereof.

Fig. 3is' taken along3 3"of. 1 and'in'profile details a preferredstyle of sheave rim;

Fig. 5 as taken along5'5 of Fig"; 1; shows a profile assembly." of my *roller equipped iackbars;v

and Fig: 4 is atop'vi'ew thereof.

tra'te" an alternative roller assembly.-

Figs? 7' and" 8" respectively reveal side and end further modificationinroller rack'bandisposition;

Fig. 10-" diagrammatically depicts the bending: action to which thecrimped'st'rand-issubjected. Referring in detailto Figs; 1 to 6, this hori v zo'ntal type of straightener may comprise ask'eletonized three-deck A frame including; mated angle-iron leg "extensions or corner posts s'uchas I and iOBthat may be bridged by thecross diate deck MB andoverhangthegear-reduction 2 5 beams H; l2; and I3: cross beams may be spanned by horizontaldeck agencies such as MA; MB; and MC. The pair ofcrooked-posts HJB- may each mount a journal hearing it tosupport the-pulley'shaft ll'thereacross;

speed inotor'ZGmay be-upheld by their'iterm'e box' if to transmit power 'tosaid ulley. As re:

vealedin'Fig; 3", the bottom of such return'pul' ley-groov niaybe filled" withga suitable lining" such'asthe leather strip Htoiortifythe seated grip of itsembracing strand or work piece -23 of comparativel flexible-reelable material herein;

after more definitely identified.

succession ofsimilar but reversely'inclined stationary; carrier blocks-A, 253" etc. maybe alignedly'mounted uporrthe top deck l-lCfandeach of these several'blocks are. preferably kept comparatively short; As. detailediii-Fig. 5; each" such block may provide fora-beveled "face' uponwhich is imposed the conjoined dual parall-e1 rack barsor block components 26--and2l of 1 cold rolled flat stocky Onesuchba'r may be at:

fixedto said face-by a rivet'or the like securing" means 28' while its mated bar is" majde'slidable to; afford a-nadjus-table gap G theie'between; When reverselyassembledas in Fig. 1, the respectiveoblique roller axes'oi alternate blocks'HA' and 25B' will assume the perpendicularrelationship indicatedb y dotted outline'in Fig: 5".

Each pair of mated bars may be transversely reamed in aligned registry and have a stanchion" 25" bri'dgm'gly entered therethrough as shown:

One stanchion end maybe tightly doweled'in place at"3fland a projecting "end region mayfbe kept slidable in cros's'head guide fashion. An ap;

plied lock nut 3| allows of forcibly thrusting these opposed bars towardeach otherto sinuous- Corresponding pairs of The strand guide sheave" orgrooved tractor pulley I 8 may be carried upon said shaft and be'sprocket driven-bythe chaiIilQ': Ahigh" 1y deflect the interposed strand 23. All of said nuts are placed within convenient reach to facilitate a uniform change in the setting of the bar gap G. Such parallelly retained bars are respectively equipped with a separate series of rollers namely 32 or 33 that are uniformly spaced axially at a span distance marked S, the rollers on the respective bars being relatively staggered in the Fig. 4 manner.

Each roller is preferably provided with interposed ball bearings 34 (see Fig. circumscribing an overhanging roller spindle 35 whose affixed shank end may b driven into the bar thereof. The functional behavior of such combined staggered roller series may be traced by further reference to Fig. 10. Assuming all the bar gaps G to have been similarly adjusted to suit the particular quality and size of wire, said roller will distort such strand into an appropriate serpentine path. Considered as a continuous beam, each half span or sectional length S/2 becomes laterally loaded by the roller thrust P with a consequent singleaction sag or semi-deflection (1. Such thrust sets up counteracting divergent pulls marked T which impart longitudinal stretch to the crimped wire. The radially outer crown region of each successively crimped wire portion is thereby subjected to combined bending and tension stress ofsufficient intensity to dominate its initially crooked deformation and thus correct any irregular set thereof.

A fairly definite relation usually prevails between the ultimate tensile strength of ferrous stock and its Brinell hardness number when held to less than 400 in value. Under extreme temper conditions, the corresponding elongation for very hard frangible steel becomes substantially nil and carries its elastic limit into so close proximity to the accompanying ultimate tensile strength as to afford only an insignificant marginal stres range or leeway in which to rectify such material without the likelihood of imminent rupture. For socalled hard ferrous wire, the elastic limit does not approach its corresponding tensile strength Without undue encroachment upon the remaining scant stress leeway.

The motive eifort or bending work required to advance the wire axially through any one span length S is substantially proportionate to the product of the thrust P by twice the corresponding semispan deflection d, plus the accompanying frictional roller drag. The use'of full fashioned ball bearings 34, serves to materially ease such supplemental drag. A relatively long series of spans equipped with axially inclined rollers,

are needed to accomplish present purposes even when sharply crimping the wire about a short radius of curvature marked R in Fig. 10. Interposed' wire grip mean are therefore provided to repeatedly induce renewed motivation of the treated wire and thereby suppress the resulting total stress within amply safe limits against rupture. 7

My machine is especially adapted to speed up reelable wire to about 300 or 500 feet per minute in comparison to a commercially prevailing straightening rate of approximately one hundred feet per minut for hard ferrous stock. The ball bearing roller may herein be kept to a small low cost size and run at moderate rotative speed for which the peripheral ball velocity may readily be held well below critical running limits. The various sheave journals may likewise be ball bearing equipped but where the journal diameter is kept small in relation to the diametral sheave dimension, such refinement becomes nonessential. The number of roller spans required for complete traightening are substantially independent of the treated wire diameter. A requisite number of such roller spans if extended in aligned tandem disposition plus space for the pinch roller drive means, usually results in an abnormal overall floor space length. By compactly crowding sectionalized groups of my fragmental roller paths abreast in alongside relation and having strand guide sheave means interposed between certain block ends as practiced herein, their combined juxtaposed length may be considerably contracted to fall into a frame structure whose major floor space dimension L (see Fig. 1) may be kept materially shorter than the aggregate overall length of a corresponding number of roller spans when placed in tandem alignment.-

Wires of smaller diametral size need a proportionately greater crimp deflection 11. Where larger reelable wire sizes are to be treated, the sheave diameter may be correspondingly increased. It will be observed that the sheave radius is purposely kept considerably larger than the crimping radius R. to obviate excessively setting the wir while being carried about the tractor pulley l8. In order to multiply the trac- 40 tional grip of the seated wire 23, it may be wound blocks 38A, 3833, etc.

blocks also have their respective roller axes-dis around such pulley groove through more than one convolution.

The bottom deck MA may be equipped with an additionalseries of alternately assembled carrier As detailed in Fig. 6, these By substituting the Fig. 6 style of block through with the motor 20.

out for the Fig. 5 block, my machine is rendered suitable for treating fiat wire or the like ribbon stock.

Referring further to Fig. 1, opposed complementary pin-ch rollers 39 and 40 may be bracketed to a frame member to drag the leading end of the interposed strand through the last entered blocks 38A, 38B etc. One. or both of such pinch rollers may be driven by the chain 4| to run in unison The respective roller perimeters may be adjustably urgedinto tight gripping contact with said strand by the use of a screw controlled thrust spring 42. a. A similar idler impress roller 43 may be arranged'to fortify the wire grip with respect to the pulley seat 22. The use. of multiplestranddriver means respectively interposed behind: each group of roller blocks, serves toxreducethe accumula-- tive frictional drag imparted to a Wire alreadyhighly stressed by crimp drag.

Figs. 7 to 9 disclose a verticalor upright type of machinev in which. the treated strand 45is helically threaded in winch fashion over: plural. bottom sheaves 46A, 46B and 460. These may be mounted upon a common lower cross shaft or axle 41 in association with staggered top sheaves 48A and 48B of identical diameter that are fixedly mounted upon the companion upper shaft 49 and which shaft is shown axially spacedfrom' its mate 4! by a certain pitch distance. Said shafts may be sprocket interconnected by the chainfi to run in unison. Unidirectional motorized means 5| may chain drive the primary shaft sprocket' 52 as shown.

The intermediate apertured platform or deck agency 53 may have demountably afiixed therto, multiple erected companion roller blocks such as offset members 54A or 54B; The components of each such companion blockmay'comprise pairs of roller equipped rackbars 56 and 5-! respectively that may be seated perpendicularly upon the divergent base faces 44 in the Fig. Qmanner.

The first sheave 46A may be loosely carried upon its shaft to freely guide the incoming wire 45 upwardly through the opposed rollers of the depending and erected blocks 55A and54A, thence over the first top sheave 48A and helically downward through the offset outturnedrollers of the registering blocks 54Band 55B until the leading wire region is brought into embrace withthe last .winch sheave 46C. In order to maintain undeviating alignment on part of the advancing strand, the afiixed end of each such block com renewed impetus to the advancing Wire in order to leave the respective winch sheaves under substantially equalized drag tension.

To maintain adequate tractionaround the last entered sheave 460 without undue slippage, the. emerging end region of the work piece 45 maybe subjected to a supplemental final drag by theuse of a refined pinch roller mechanism. As shown in Figs. '7 and 8, this comprises a pair of driven span rollers that may be conjointly rotated by the axially spaced spur gears 60 and GI. The armature shaft of an independent fractional H. P. auxiliary motor 62 provides for a gear inter meshing pinion 63 that may unidirectionally drive both span rollers at a peripheral velocity considerably greater than a prescribed rate of wire travel. One leg of a pivotally mounted bell crank 64 carries a crimp roller 65 and the other leg may be adjustably shifted by the screw 56 to yieldably thrust said crimp roller between a single pair of span rollers to regulatably crimp the interposed wire 45 in the Fig. 10 fashion. By roller slippage, such compensating .drag device prevents pronounced slackening and maintains augmented wire traction. Similar drag roller means may also be applied to the incoming strand end region.

Furthermore, when the bell crank 64 is appropriately. adjusted; the crimp imparted by the roller- 65 may be made to'compensateand substantially correct for any partial set that may sult from 'stretchingly' winding the wire. about the last sheaveMiC. Such delivered straight wire may be automatically severed into predetermined lengths by the use of conventicnalcutoff means.

The number anddiametral size of my-winch sheaves maybe alteredto uit requirements. The drive power needs per'footof completed product is herein kept exceptionally lOW-by the deliberate avoidance of any direct sliding dragon part'of the work. piece with respect to any stationary guide element. 1 i

As willbe obvious, Fig.1 couldwreadily: be, modifiedby introducing asupplementary pulley (such as 483 of .Fig. 7) in axialparallelisinwith thepulley 18. to allow the delivery end of the wire. 23 to be looped upwardly'over. the top. deckv II, the lower rackbars. 38A and 38B thenbeing bodily transferred'to the top deck I l to lie along? side the rackbars 25A and 2513 in theFig. 8 manner. The bottom deck I3. may thereby beeliminated and the treated wire wouldleave its lastentered rackbar in the same directionastheaim coming Wire as in Fig.7.

As an additional use to which my machine'may be put, the respective terminals of open-ended.

strand material may be spliced togethersto' constitute a draggedloop as schematically indicated in Fig. 7 by the numeral 68. When such endless.

Work piece is unidirectionally. driven by the l motor. 5| for fatigue testing purposes, said loop may be made to continuously pass through numerous" crimping spans until ultimate rupture is brought.

about. By, recording the time of. such run, a

close determination may be had of the number of reverse, bending repetitions requiredto. reach the endurance limit for such tested material.

Not only can the stress intensity range be selec-.

tively modified by altering the gap G of the several component roller bars when used. as a testin machine, but the rate of stress application can be changed by correspondingly restricting. the strand travel velocity.

The foregoing disclosure. will it is believed, make evident to those skilled in this art, the more.

outstanding advantages afforded by my improved apparatus and system, it being understoodth'at certain underlying structural principles are capable of incorporation in certain other embodiments devoid of strand reversing guide? means, all without departing fromthespiritand scope of my invention heretofore described. and more particularly characterized in the claims.

I claim:

appended 1. In a bending machine adapted to reversely crimp a reelable metallic strand or the like. come paratively flexible material whileibeingi advanced: longitudinally, said machine comprising a .p1u'-= rality of similar carrier block means thatare disposed abreast each other into a contracted juxtaposed length shorter than the aggregate overall length of all block means, each such block means including conjoined dual rackbars respectively mounting a series of axially interspaced bending rollers therealong and which mated series are staggered to constitute successive crimping spans through which to subject an advancing strand to repeatedly reversed bending stress imposed along a common plane that substantially coincides with the strand axis, certain axes of the rollersembodied in one such carrier block means being angularly inclined.

bars respectively mounting a series of axially interspaced bending rollers therealong and which mated series are staggered to constitute succes-.

sive crimping spans through which to subject an advancing strand to repeatedly reversed benda ing stress imposed along a common plane that substantially coincides with the strand axis, cer-' tain axes of the rollers embodied in one such carrier block means being angularly inclined withrespect to the roller axes in another block means, and sheavemeans serving to guide the advancing strand from one end of said one block means to the opposed end of the aforesaid another block means whereby to completely straighten the stand in a single pass through said machine.

3. In a straightening machine adapted to crimpingly treat an elongated work piece of comparatively flexible material while being advanced longitudinally, said machine comprising a plurality of similar carrier blocks Whose corresponding ends are disposed abreast each other into a contracted juxtaposed length shorter than the aggregate overall length of all carrier blocks,

,each such block being provided with dual rack-' bar means respectively equipped witha series of o axially interspaced bending rollers and which mated series are arranged in staggered relatione ship to constitute successive spans therebetween' through which to continuously crimp the advancing work piece, and strand reversing sheave means interposed between certain corresponding block ends and arranged to guide the work piece from one of said block ends in a contrawise di-v rection into the other corresponding block end.

4. In a bending machine adapted to crimpingly treat a reelable metallic strand or the like comparatively flexible material while being advanced lengthwise, said machine-comprising a pair of rotatable sheaves having a strand wound therearound in multiple loops and servin to ad- Vance said strand longitudinally onward, and two carrier block means disposed abreast each other within a contracted juxtaposed length shorter than the combined overall length of both said block means, each such carrier block means being provided with conjoined dual rackbars respectively mounting a series of axially inter-.. spaced bending rollers therealong and which mated series are staggeredto constitute successive crimping spans through which to subject a dragged strand to repeatedly reversed bending stress imposed along a plane that coincides with the strand axis, one such carrier block means being arranged to treat a certain strand loop and the other block means being arranged to treat an adjacent loop and having the bending planes of the respective block means inclined angularly.

5. In a bending machine adapted to crimpingly treat a reelable metallic strand or the like comparatively, flexible material while being advanced lengthwise, said machine comprising a pair of rotatable sheaves respectively mounted upon substantially parallel shafts that are interspaced at a certain axial distance and about which sheaves the strand is grippingly wound in multiple loops, and a plurality of carrier block means cooperatively arranged abreast each other to treat difierent loops and disposed, into a contracted juxtaposed length shorter than aggregate overall length of all such block means, each such carrier block meansbeing provided with conjoined dual rackbars respectively mountin a series of axially interspaced bending rollers therealong and which mated series are staggered to constitute successive crimping spans for subjecting the looped strand to repeatedly reversed bending stress, said sheave means when rotated in unison serving to drag the strand through the aforesaid aggregate overall length and which length is materially longer than the stipulated axial distance. v

6. In a unitary bending machine adapted to completely straighten reelable wire or the like strand in a single pass, said machine comprising an erected frame work provided with superimposed eck agencies, a sheave carrying axle mounted upon one such agency and which sheave is adapted to have reelable wire grippingly wrapped about a portion of its perimeter, a motorized gear reduction boxcarried by said frame work and serving to drive said axle for longitudinally advancing the wire, and a plurality of carrier block means upheld by the other of said agencies to cooperate with the advanced Wire and which block means are disposed abreasteach other into a contracted juxtaposed length shorter than the aggregate overall length of all block means, each such carrier block mean's being provided with conjoined dual rackbars respectively mounting a series of axially interspaced bending rollers and which mated series are staggered to constitute successive crimping spans through which to subject the advancing Wire to repeatedly reversed bending stress imposed along a plane that substantially coincidesiwith the wire axis, certain of the roller axes embodied-in one such block means being angularly inclined with respect to those embodied in another block means.

LOUIS ILLMER. 

